Charlotte, Shades, and Secrets Working Title
by Ilse O'Hara
Summary: Everyone, it seemed, was getting a happily ever after, except for our beloved assistant. Will Charlotte find love? Please Read and Review! Rated K currently, but might change in later chapters. Suggestions for scenes welcome!
1. Chapter 1

**Secrets, Shades, and Charlotte**

**A Princess Diaries Movie Fiction**

**By Ilse O'Hara**

**Author's Note: **I do not own any of the characters in the two Princess Diaries films; all characters are copyrighted to Meg Cabot and Gary Marshall. I have not used this fiction for any financial gain or success. Please enjoy and leave feedback... this will probably be a short story, with maybe a few chapters, but I have not decided yet (wink and a smile)!

A gorgeous and momentous day had given way to a stormy and desolate night. Rain pounded on the roof of the large castle that the royal family and its closest advisors and friends had called home for the past few hundred years. Everything was quiet, as it should have been because of the ungodly hour. Only one person was awake and up. The queen's beloved and cool-tempered assistant Charlotte was sitting by herself in the staff kitchen, holding a cup of rosemary and citrus tea, staring out of the pitch-black windows that so expediently reflected her thoughts and mood. Charlotte was thinking about the past two weeks' events, and a smile played on her lips at the thought of the form queen of Genovia, Clarisse Rinaldi's final happiness in life as a result of her spontaneous marriage to Joseph, the head of security. In that surprising day, the present queen of Genovia, Queen Mia had refused an arranged marriage to secure her place as ruler. Charlotte, as she gazed out into nothingness, thought fondly of Mia. She felt somewhat protective of Mia, not exactly matronly and not exactly sisterly, either. She felt more like an aunt or an older cousin, perhaps. She and Mia did have some rather amusing moments while Mia was in her teens and learning the endless rules of etiquette, the bottomless pit of proper behavior, and the chasm filled with tips on how to portray the perfect picture of charm. Even Mia, who had just celebrated her twenty-first birthday, had found love in the past weeks with none other than the scheming and conniving Viscount Mabry's nephew, Lord Nicholas. Lord Nicholas was the supposed other heir to the throne, but, Charlotte recalled smiling and getting a little teary-eyed, he had declined it in front of everyone at the wedding. Mia and Nicholas were engaged to be married the following spring. Charlotte's happy and optimistic thoughts of love were replaced by the small, cynical voice that served as her conscience and source of judgment on all matters big and small, like the placement of the tables in the palace's vast rose gardens for the annual spring pear festival to the decision of what tea to serve Her Majesty (former Her Majesty, that is) with her morning breakfast of pears, mandarin oranges, and strawberries. Charlotte thought,

"_Everyone has found love-Joseph and Clarisse, Mia and Nicholas, Andrew and some girl who was Nicholas's date at the spring festival...everyone except you!" _Charlotte became so unbelievably sad that she started to cry. Charlotte never cried, only when something was immensely emotional, for instance, the coronation ceremony where Clarisse had been freed of all responsibilities to the crown, though Charlotte knew she would happily advise Mia on anything that Mia came to her about. Just then, someone began walking down the stairs slowly, so as to not fall in the darkness.

"_Damn,_" thought Charlotte, "_if it's one of those stupid maids I'll scream," _

Although, to Charlotte's complete surprise, the former queen, Clarisse emerged into the kitchen with a lonesome expression on her face. Charlotte quickly wiped the tears out of her eyes and jumped to her feet saying,

"Your Majesty! I am so sorry, I shall return to my room immediately so as not to disturb you, ma'am,"

"Oh, dear Charlotte," Clarisse said, sitting down across from her at the long and cleanly scrubbed wooden table, "you never have to leave when I come in, do stay. Joseph had to go away to some convention about interns and such-although I highly doubt that I can withstand the presence of yet another bumbling intern, Lionel is quite enough," she finished, laughing her elegant laugh. Charlotte figured the queen was lonely without Joseph, in fact, she was the first person to sense something between the two of them six years ago in San Francisco after unintentionally walking in on them dancing most intimately in the deserted ballroom of the embassy. She suddenly remembered her manners,

"Oh, pardon me, ma'am. Would you like a cup of rosemary-citrus tea? I have it made," Clarisse nodded gratefully. Charlotte brought it over to her when Clarisse finally took a close look at her face,

"Charlotte! You have been crying! Are you alright, my dear?" Charlotte quickly replied,

"Yes, ma'am. I am great! I've never been better," she finished, in a chipper tone.

"Charlotte, you never were a good liar. Something is the matter. Do you want to talk about it," the former queen asked, as lightly and tactfully as if she were asking a question about the weather. "_Do I want to talk about it?" _Charlotte thought. She sat down across from Clarisse and said in a low voice,

"I don't know what to do," Clarisse sensed that this was not work-related, as Mia had practically forced Charlotte into signing an indefinite contract to remain in the castle as her assistant. She looked at Charlotte's face and saw the eyes looking absently out into the pouring rain, and a sudden realization hit her. She was lonely! She didn't have a home other than the castle, and Clarisse knew that she had no family, for she, herself, had plucked teenaged Charlotte out of the same orphanage that Mia had desperately fought for. Charlotte had denied herself pleasure and the company of man for her job and ... for me, Clarisse thought. She slowly cleared her throat and said quietly,

"Is it about love?" Charlotte's face turned from shock to embarrassment to sadness and finally to resignation before she whispered after a heavy silence,

"Yes, ma'am," Clarisse, even though she had been primarily focused on her duty to her country still had some maternal instincts. She stood up quickly and ordered Charlotte to follow her to her room. Charlotte just meekly followed. Once inside, Clarisse told Charlotte to sit down on the couch and wait for a moment. When she came back, she had a beautifully embroidered blanket and she sat down next to Charlotte, put the throw over both of their legs, and put her arms around Charlotte and said,

"What's the matter, dear? Tell me everything that you want,"

Charlotte just felt herself melt in the former queen's arms-she always felt as if Clarisse was her mother, albeit an adopted one. She had wanted to hug Clarisse a lot over the past year, but most especially on the night that Clarisse had rejected Joseph's marriage proposal because of her duty to country, not to self. Charlotte simply put her arms around Clarisse and just began to cry,

"I just don't know anymore. I have no one that's like, that's Joe to you or Nick to Mia for me. All I focused on was work, and I was completely happy because I felt that the harder I worked and the better something turned out, the more I would begin to even scratch the surface of repaying you back for, well for everything. Now, that you're no longer in charge and Mia has the throne, I will still work for her gladly, but I won't be the workaholic I was for you because I don't owe her as nearly as much as I owe you. And ... and ... I just want to be loved," she finished, starting to cry again. Clarisse hugged Charlotte tighter and rubbed a soothing hand across her shaking shoulders. She had recalled a conversation with Joe, regarding the present head of security, Thomas Simmons, a.k.a. Shades, in allusion to the darkly tinted glasses he wore everywhere, no exceptions. Joseph had mentioned Shades' interest in Charlotte, not professionally but romantically. Clarisse had seen Charlotte's gazes linger on the uniformed man in black as she did her rounds just before a dinner or an entrance sort of thing. In addition, Clarisse thought, they were the two who communicated with the headsets and used code names and everything. Charlotte would definitely be pleased to learn this bit of information.

"Charlotte," she said, after Charlotte had calmed down a little.

"What, ma'am?"

"Two things, dear. Number one, no more your majesty, ma'am, etcetera. Just call me Clarisse. Is that clear?" she added this last bit in a forced stern tone, but as Charlotte looked up, her face a vision of shock, she saw the faint hint of a smile trailing on the older woman's still young-looking features. Startled, she replied,

"Yes, ma'-, I mean, yes, Clarisse,"

"Jolly good," Clarisse said, "secondly, I have a prize bit of information regarding an extremely handsome eligible young bachelor who has taken an interest in you," Clarisse saw Charlotte's eyes light up, "Though, regrettably, it isn't Prince William I am sorry to say," The two women shared a laugh as they both remembered Mia's "Planned Partner Picking Day", as the young queen referred to it, although some good did come out of it. Mia gained an amazing ambassador to France and a new best guy friend in the process, though Clarisse was certain that Nicholas would have no problem with their friendship because of Jean's sexual orientation.

"Who, may I ask, is this gentleman?" Charlotte asked, her heart thumping wildly with hope while her exterior features tried to remain the picture of coolness and poise.

"The head of security, dear," Clarisse said taking Charlotte's hand and rubbing it.

"But you said he was ellig-." Charlotte started but then stopped before letting out a soft, "Oh!"

"Yes, dear. Monsieur "Shades" is highly interested in you, let me say. I do feel a devilish bit of matchmaking schemes coming in to this old brain of mine. I am sorry, dear, but I think I am going back to bed, but you are welcome to stay here," Clarisse, said getting up from the sofa and walking towards her bed. Charlotte quickly replied,

"No thank you, your maj-...Clarisse," she said, "I am perfectly composed now. What happened tonight won't happen again, I do apologize for it," she finished, looking down at her feet with shame. Clarisse quickly "hastened" over to Charlotte and gave her a quick, reassuring hug while saying,

"Oh, my dear. Don't ever think that you have to remain the perfect assistant all of the time, which, I must say, you are. Goodnight, dear. But..."she said, her voice expressing the smile that was also on her face, "I cannot wait to see how you and Shades play out. I am most excited," she finished, adding in a last goodnight before turning around again. Charlotte turned to leave as well, but then a sudden question popped into her head as her hand was on the ornate gold-leafed door handle,

"Clarisse," she called.

"Yes, dear," answered Clarisse, popping her head around the corner of the doorframe that led to the bedroom part of the suite.

"I was just wondering something. Why did you have me come here instead of the kitchen?" Here it was Clarisse's turn to go a little red as she answered stammering,

"Well, I wanted you to be away from prying eyes, and as there are no longer any cameras installed in my room," she broke off.

"Oh. Right. I should have remembered that. I ordered them to be taken down. Duh," she turned around but the former queen's reply made her turn around and flush pink with delight.

"Really, Charlotte? Oh, my dear you are the most perfect assistant,"

"Thank you, Clarisse. I try," Charlotte said as she walked into the deserted hallway and wove her way up staircase after staircase, through corridor after corridor, until she reached the castle's west tower, the one from which one could sea the beautiful ocean, so far away and unreachable but so close at the same time. When Charlotte had first come to the palace, the queen had given her the pick of any room that she possibly wanted, and Charlotte had picked the spacious, circular room in the tower. She got into bed and turned on her side, trying to fall asleep and ignore the endless flood of questions that was entering her mind.

**That is all for now! Please read and review! Reviews will fuel this story and nothing else! Positive and negative criticism is encouraged!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to my reviewers, it really really helps me to keep on writing!**

Charlotte awoke to a beautiful day with sunlight streaming into her windows. She stretched and yawned and looked at the clock. It said six o'clock, and judging by the placement of the sun, it meant A.M. She walked into the adjacent bathroom, which was not extravagant but was more than a toilet and a cheap sink. She brushed her teeth and hair and looked into the floor length mirror. She remembered Clarisse's comments about Shades. She was not sure, but she had a feeling that Clarisse was going to be up to something today matchmaking wise. She put on her signature black dress, black pumps, and single strand of pearls before going downstairs and personally making Clarisse's breakfast herself, as Queen Mia wasn't going to be up until much, much later. She knocked on the door of the former queen's suite and heard Clarisse's musical voice saying,

"Come in,"

"Good morning, Clarisse," Charlotte said as she put the breakfast tray on the small white wrought iron café table near the window overlooking the gardens, "I hope I am not too early,"

"You are never too early, Charlotte," Clarisse said, getting up and walking over to the table, "you seemed to have my routine etched into your brain. I have only been up for an hour, and I have a great idea for you to make an impression on Shades." Charlotte's hands shook, and she almost dropped the china teacup in her surprise before saying,

"Oh, really?"

"Come, Charlotte, I know you like Monsieur Shades a lot, don't try and pretend that you aren't at least a little excited," Clarisse said as she sat down at the table as Charlotte poured her some tea, "Those strawberries look simply spectacular," Charlotte was enraged! Clarisse had said she had a plan for Shades and now she was not telling! As she doled out fresh cream for the berries, she said,

"Clarisse, you should be ashamed of yourself for getting me all excited and then not telling me what I am supposed to do to get Shades to notice me. Really, and I thought you were always perfectly tactful, no matter what the incident," she joked. Clarisse laughed out loud, more than just her elegant, dinner-party style laugh but her unrestrained, booming laugh that was usually only heard while she was in the company of Joe. Charlotte just stood looking at Clarisse with a false expression of martyrdom until Clarisse had stopped the booming part and was onto the silent shaking bit of her laughing fit,

"Really, Charlotte," Clarisse said, calming her storm of laughter and reeling it back in to the dinner party laugh, "you are too funny! Anyway," she added at the end, her voice turning brisk as it always did when it turned to matters of extreme importance, such as business of the palace, parliament sessions, and instructing Mia whether or not chasing a chicken was allowed, "I have a simple, subtle, yet ingenious idea of how to get Shades to notice you in-what do you call it, nowadays-"in that way," she finished, pausing to smile as Charlotte blushed a little before explaining her plan. Charlotte merely listened and nodded her head a little while the former queen told her what to do, but then a slow smile spread to her lips in the cleverness of the whole scheme. When she had finished explaining, Clarisse said,

"Go now, my dear! Quickly, because I just saw Lionel start his "grounds check". That should give you about, oh let me see, four hours alone with Shades," she finished chuckling.

"Yes, I will. I will go now! Thank you, Clarisse," Charlotte called as she practically sprinted out of the room and down the hallway towards the security complex. As she neared the door, she slowed down and tried to calm her nerves. She opened the door and walked in. Shades was sitting by a monitor that was surveying the sleeping Queen Mia, a chessboard was in front of him, but the pieces weren't set up. Evidently, he and Lionel had just finished a game. He didn't take his eyes off the screen, as it changed its view to the front foyer of the palace and stayed there, and said in an angry tone,

"Lionel, how often have I told you? You need to be quieter when you move," he glanced up and saw that Charlotte was standing there with a confused expression on her face, "Oh! Charlotte! Excuse me, I am so sorry, I thought you were Lionel because last time I told him to do a grounds check, he came back and asked me if he could dig up some of the roses because they had thorns on them so technically they were endangering the queen's safety and I am babbling and I am going to stop explaining myself right now," he finished stammering while really thinking to himself, "_Way to go, Tom! Trying to impress her for weeks and now you ruin it. She will probably never speak to you again for thinking that she was Lionel-I mean, come on! How could that beautiful woman with those gorgeous eyes-stop it stop it stop it! She does not like you! Get over it!" _Charlotte saw how embarrassed he was and went on to continue her plan,

"Shades, it's perfectly fine. I should have knocked. Clarisse sent me to ask you about security numbers for the fall dinner party-oh, do you play chess," she asked in what she hoped conveyed an impressed tone. Shades glanced over and saw that she was genuinely interested and said, embarrassed,

"Yeah."

"I've always wanted to learn, but I have never had time," Charlotte said, looking wistfully at the board and its various pieces. Shades looked at the board and looked at Charlotte. _Ask her to play! Yeah, I'll ask her to play and teach her and then I'll _

"Um, I can teach you if you want. We could play some games and I could teach you about the pieces," Shades said, his voice betraying his nervousness. _Damn it! What are you, twelve? It's like your asking a girl over to do some homework. _Charlotte could see that he was a little nervous around her, was that a good sign? Delighted, she went over to the little table and sat down saying,

"Really? You wouldn't mind?" Shades looked over and saw her face convey an expression of pure joy, which made his heart start beating even faster and said,

"No! I mean, I am totally fine with it," Charlotte gave him her best smile as she thought, "_Am I flirting too much? Am I trying too hard? I hope that he likes me...I hope" _her thoughts were cut short as Shades said,

"So ... do you know where the pieces go?" Charlotte had a general idea of where they all went so she tried to set them up to the best of her knowledge. There were some pieces placed incorrectly so Shades came over and said,

"Here, let me help you," He stood behind her and reached over her shoulders and helped her place the pieces in the correct spaces from her point of view. Charlotte's heart started fluttering when Shades reached over her, and she caught a whiff of his cologne, and what a cologne it was. It smelled of peppermint and something woodsy, maybe a sort of tree or something. Shades likewise felt his hands shaking as he leaned in over Charlotte and smelled her perfume. _"She smells like...I don't know... like a fruit or something. Pears!"_ Shades thought, allowing himself to smile at the thought of Genovians' love in general for their precious pears. Charlotte allowed herself to turn around and look in his eyes... well, at least, his sunglasses. They both stood there, oblivious to the world around them, unknowing of the two spectators that were peaking through the somewhat ajar doorframe. The present and former queens were watching with their breaths held. Clarisse, directly after Charlotte had left her suite, had "hastened" to Mia's room, woke her up, and filled her in on the entire story. Mia, a huge sucker for romance and romantic stories in general, had thrown on a bathrobe and "hastened" down the halls with her grandmother. Not wanting to spy too long, the pair of queens "hastened" back to Mia's suite as it was further away from the security complex and began to discuss Charlotte and Shades' situation.

"Oh, Grandma! Did you see the way she was flirting with him? She was all over him!"

"Ah, yes," Clarisse said back, chuckling a little, "I must confess I told her to do that, just to make her true intentions clear,"

"True intentions," Mia said, absentmindedly stroking the back of His Royal Highness Fat Louis while mulling over the entire situation, "Wait, you mean that she wasn't really there to see about the dance? Grandma, you are a sly, sneaky fox!"

"Your Highness, if I ever here you talking to my wife like that again, I may set Lionel on you," came a growly voice from the door, not a mean sounding growl, but a playful one, sounding sort of like a lion playing with its cubs.

"Joseph!"

"Joe!"

The two queens exclaimed at the same time, and "hastened" over to him. Mia let her grandmother get there first and Joe pulled her into his arms and they shared a short, but sweet kiss. After they were done, Mia made short the rest of the distance between the pair and herself by leaping over and clutching them both in a huge bear hug-group style.

"JOE! I missed you so much! Lionel is soo annnnoooyyying," Mia complained, "you're the only one he's scared of so when you're not around he acts as if he had your job,"

"Former job, Your Highness,"

"Mia," Clarisse chided, "Queens never leap like that, we _pirouette,"_

"Right," Mia said, blushing and laughing at the same time, "because they're so much different."

"I came across an interesting situation in the security complex," Joseph said casually.

"Omigod! Were they kissing? Tell me everything," the young queen demanded pulling Joseph down onto her pink toile couch.

"No," Joseph said smiling at Mia's extremely disappointed facial expression, "they were playing chess. But Shades, as I was walking out of the room, suggested to Charlotte that they have dinner tomorrow. In town," he finished, downright laughing now at Mia's scream of laughter and her chant of,

"YES! YES! YES!"

"Tell me, your majesty, how did you know about Charlotte and Shades?" Joseph asked, curiously looking at Clarisse as he said this. Now it was Mia and Clarisse's turn to go red and Clarisse said,

"Well, erm, that is we, no, I, well," she said stuttering, "I sort of set them up,"

"I watched," Mia said with a smile.

"I see," was Joseph's reply, which, as usual, was accompanied by his signature half smile. A sudden crash from down the hallway sent Joseph cursing out of the room,

"Damned Lionel. Probably trying to set up a bug. Excuse me, Your Highness, my dear,"

"Any moment now, Charlotte will come rushing in here to tell us what happened. We will NOT," Clarisse said, emphasizing the last word as she surveyed the sprawled queen in watermelon pajamas, "give her any notion whatsoever that we saw it all. Is that clear?"

"Duh, grandma. Besides, I want to here it from her point of view," Mia said with a smile.

**That's all for now! I tried extra hard on Clarisse's character so she would sound exactly like Julie Andrews! Please Read and Review!**


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